Franklin at Three Weeks!

Here are a few pics of Franklin at three weeks old. Today, he sported his first pair of "shoes!" He's getting so big, and is still such a good baby. We've worked out some of the kinks that we faced at first, like the fact that he HATED taking a bath. A warm wash cloth over his belly during the bath and the paci when he comes out seems to have resolved the issue, and we can now make it through bathtime without a screaming fest that would wake the dead.

Yesterday I headed over to my doctor's office to get the H1N1 Vaccine before I stop nursing so that Franklin can get the antibodies since he can't have the vaccine. Yes, our brief stint in nursing is quickly coming to an end.... my supply issues never resolved themselves, despite my attempt at drinking tea and even taking medication to increase the supply. Franklin also never really warmed up to nursing either, his sucking abilities were hindered due to the fact that he was three weeks early, and each time he tried to nurse he just wore himself out on the first breast and refused to even try the second... meaning that he never would've eaten enough to grow the way he was supposed to, and that we always would've had to supplement with formula. Paying for a pump and spending time to pump (while only getting 1/2 an ounce to an ounce each time anyway), in addition to feeding with bottles, is for the birds. The little man seems to enjoy his formula just fine, despite the fact that the extra iron is having a small impact on his stooling (I know, the first post about poop, right?).

We've also started working a schedule, and it's having a huge impact on our happiness at this point. In yet another first time mom mistake, I assumed initially that Franklin did not like being swaddled, since he always kept his hands near his face and seemed to struggle in the swaddle once he was wrapped up inside. WRONG. (And apparently a typical mistake). Franklin is too young to have the motor skills to control where his arms end up, and a revival of the swaddle has resulted in better sleep for us all. I have to thank our friends Ed & Jessica for their recommendation of the Moms on Call Guide to the First 6 Months for our great results so far. Two years ago when they had their first baby, Jessica mentioned the book to me and what a help it had been to them. Frank and I were newly married, but knew we wanted kids, so I bookmarked the Moms on Call website so that I would remember to check it out when the time came.

The book and its method are incredible. The authors are baby nurses from Atlanta, and believe that you can start your baby on a schedule at 2 weeks (although for the first 4 weeks things aren't set in stone, since everyone is still working out the kinks). We began last Friday, when Franklin hit three weeks old. The authors give an hourly schedule during the day, including feeding and nap times, as well as dinner, bath, and bedtime. We begin our day at 6 AM, he eats and is awake for an hour, and sleeps in two hour naps after that. He eats dinner at 6:30, and we begin the bathtime routine at 8:30 or 9 PM. He gets a "bath" every night, although I don't use soap every night in an attempt to preserve his skin and keep it from overdrying. The thought process is that babies associate bathtime with bedtime, and Franklin has begun to do just that. After the bath, Franklin eats again, and then the swaddle comes into play and he's put down to bed. The authors recommend that the baby go into his own room that's very dark and to use a white noise machine, but I just can't bring myself to put Franklin in his own room just yet. So, he's still in our room and we aren't using a white noise machine - but the fan in our room is still on. He then wakes at 2-2:30 to eat during the night, in a dimly lit room with very little interaction with me, and goes right back down until it's time to wake up at 6. Last night, he slept until 6:45AM!

So yes, that's correct - my three week old only wakes up one time per night to feed at 2:oo AM, and I am getting 4 hour stretches of sleep regularly at this point. I generally go back to sleep when he goes down for the morning nap at 7 AM, and we both start our day around 9 AM. It doesn't work perfectly just yet, sometimes he'll wake at 1:30 and 5:30, or some version of that, but I think we're light years ahead of what some other new moms face. I am extremely lucky that Franklin is an easy-going baby, and seems to pretty much go with the flow on most things. I was determined to find some sort of a "schedule" before we traveled over the holidays so that we all didn't lose our minds, so hopefully we will be right on track when we head down to visit our families next week.

So long story short, we're still here and doing great! Franklin visits the pediatrician again on Thursday, I'm anxious to see how much weight he's gained. Here's hoping we get a good report!